NUMBER  6 


CHINA 


THE  CHINA  MISSION 


1.  The  Country 

The  vast  land  of  China  comprises  more  than 
4,000,000  square  miles  of  territory.  It  would  spread 
all  over  the  United  States  and  cover  nearly  two 
thirds  of  North  America.  The  five  divisions  of  the 
country  are  Mongolia,  Manchuria,  Tibet,  Chinese 
Turkestan,  and  the  Eighteen  Provinces,  which 
latter  is  the  portion  commonly  known  as  China. 

China  is  wonderful  in  its  physical  conditions.  It  has 
magnificent  river  systems,  two  of  which,  the  Yangtse  and  the 
Hoangho,  compare  with  the  Mississippi,  the  Amazon  and 
the  Congo  in  extent.  It  has  lofty  mountains,  deep  and 
fertile  valleys  and  extensive  plains.  Its  climate  is  healthy, 
its  soil  productive,  its  products  various  and  abundant. 

More  wonderful  than  the  country  itself  is  the  vast,  un- 
measured sea  of  China’s  millions  of  humanity,  which  have 
surged  through  the  land  since  centuries  before  the  Christian 
era.  Compilers  of  statistics  strive  in  vain  to  count  these 
millions,  or  to  make  us  comprehend  their  extent.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  China  proper  comprises  a territory  about  as 
large  as  the  United  States,  east  of  the  Rockies,  and  con- 
tains more  than  three  times  as  many  people  as  the  United 
States.  The  population  of  the  whole  country  is  estimated  at 
350,000,000. 


2.  The  People 

The  Chinese  claim  an  authentic  history  going  back  to  2800 
B.c.  Yet,  by  a revolution  lasting  but  a few  months,  they 
broke  away  from  the  custom  of  4,711  years  and  the  ancient 
empire  became  a republic.  The  revolution  started  in  October, 
1911.  It  was  practically  ended  in  February,  1912,  when 
Sim  Yat  Sen,  the  provisional  president  of  the  revolutionists, 
resigned  that  Yuan  Shi-kai  might  be  elected  to  that  office 
by  the  National  Assembly. 

The  Chinese  have  many  things  to  be  proud  of,  but  there 
are  also  many  things  that  call  for  condemnation.  Although 
they  admire  learning  and  have  always  had  a written  language, 
the  mass  of  the  people  are  densely  ignorant;  although  business 
men  have  a reputation  for  fulfilling  their  obligations,  public 
officials  are  notoriously  dishonest;  although  human  sacri- 
fices have  not  been  offered  for  centuries,  infanticide  is  com- 
mon and  uncondemned  by  public  sentiment;  and  although 
the  position  of  women  is  better  than  in  some  other  non- 
Christian  countries,  they  have  little  freedom,  are  maimed  by 
footbinding,  can  be  sold  by  their  parents,  and,  in  the  house- 
hold, are  little  better  than  slaves.  Reformers  are  trying  to 
remedy  these  evils,  but  only  Christianity  can  cure  them. 


3.  Religions 

There  are  three  nominal  religions  in  China;  Confucianism, 
Buddhism  and  Taoism. 

Confucianism  is  the  system  of  morals  taught  by  the  great 
philospher,  Confucius.  It  has  a very  strong  hold  on  the 
Chinese  in  its  doctrine  of  the  worship  of  ancestors. 

Buddhism  was  introduced  into  China  in  our  first  century. 
From  it  come  the  deadly  apathy  and  pessimism  of  the  East, 
and  the  degrading  belief  that  the  souls  of  human  beings  may 
have  the  future  existence  in  the  bodies  of  beasts. 

Taoism  is,  in  theory,  a system  of  moral  philosophy.  Prac- 
tically, it  means  spirit  worship  and  the  practise  of  a great 
variety  of  superstitious  rites. 

Buddhism  has  its  images  of  Buddha;  Confucianism  has  no 
idols;  but  the  Taoist  temples  are  filled  with  images.  These 
religions  are  not  definitely  separated,  but  all  are  often  ac- 
cepted by  the  same  persons.  “The  Chinese  support  the 
priests  of  all  religions,  and  worship  in  all  their  temples.” 

Thus  the  stupendous  problem  of  the  gospel  in  China  stands 
revealed;  it  must  meet  the  contemptuous  pride  of  the  learned 


class;  it  must  overcome  the  inertia,  falsehood  and  supersti- 
tion of  three  great  religious  systems;  it  must  work  in  a so- 
ciety where  women  are  degraded  and  where  child  murder 
is  not  a crime. 


4.  Beginnings  of  Mission  Work 

As  long  ago  as  the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century  the 
Nestorians  came  to  China,  and  formed  churches  in  several 
cities.  In  1288  the  Roman  Catholics  came,  and  had  consider- 
able success  untd  the  edict  of  expulsion  against  Christians 
in  1767.  The  pioneer  of  modern  Protestant  missions  to 
China  was  Robert  Morrison,  who  came  to  Canton  in  1807. 


5.  Baptist  Missions  in  China 
Beginnings  in  Siam 

There  are  many  strange  facts  in  the  history  of  our  mis- 
sions, and  one  of  them  is  that  our  mission  to  China  began  in 
Siam.  The  mission  to  the  Siamese  was  established  at 
Bangkok  in  1833;  but  though  the  work  was  carried  on  in 
the  Siamese  language,  the  first  converts  were  three  Chinese, 
among  whom  there  promised  to  be  more  success  than  among 
the  Siamese. 


South  China  Mission 

Thus  Siam  proved  to  be  the  open  door  to  China.  Our 
missionaries  went  first  to  Bangkok,  but  the  call  of  the  great 
land  with  its  millions  that  needed  the  gospel  was  too  clear 
to  be  disregarded,  and  our  workers  began  to  go  to  China 
and  to  plan  broadly  for  the  work  of  the  gospel  there. 

The  South  China  Mission  was  begun  in  1836.  Its  oldest 
station  is  Swatow,  in  the  province  of  Kwangtung.  We  have 
now  seven  stations  in  the  mission.  Two  dialects  are  spoken: 
the  Swatow,  near  the  coast,  and  the  Hakka,  in  the  hill  coun- 
try in  the  interior.  Siam  is  now  included  in  the  South 
China  Mission  field. 


East  China  Mission 

Our  East  China  Mission  is  located  in  Chekiang  and  Kiangsu 
provinces.  This  work  was  begun  at  Ningpo  in  1843,  and 
there  are  now  six  central  stations  in  this  mission. 


West  China  Mission 

The  great  rivers  of  the  Orient  have  often  become  the  high- 
ways of  the  gospel.  It  was  because  of  the  mighty  Yangtse 
that  it  was  possible  to  establish  a mission  in  western  China, 
2,000  miles  up  the  river.  Work  was  begun  at  Suifu  in  1889, 
and  four  other  stations  have  since  been  established. 


6.  Results  of  Missions 

• 

We  have  been  at  work  for  China  for  about  eighty  years 
and  the  good  that  has  been  accomplished  cannot  be  told  by 
statistics. 

It  has  been  shown  that  in  spite  of  the  three  religions  the 
heart  of  the  people  is  not  at  rest;  they  long  for  the  peace 
which  Christ  alone  can  give.  “We  wish  you  would  stay 
here  and  teach  us,”  said  some  women  to  our  missionaries; 
“what  you  say  is  good,  but  we  want  to  know  more  about  it.” 
Even  the  children  in  our  mission  schools  learn  to  sing  “Jesus 
Loves  Me,”  and  they  know  what  it  means,  too.  A little 
boy  who  was  sick  unto  death  there  said  to  the  missionary, 
“No,  I am  not  afraid,  for  I know  that  Jesus  loves  me,  and 
is  taking  care  of  me.” 

Our  medical  work  is  the  “pictorial  language  of  the  gospel.” 
In  it  the  Chinese  see  the  true  doctrine  of  Jesus,  for  nowhere 
else  could  the  unfortunate  be  so  helped.  And  above  all, 
among  our  many  converts  some  have  stood  firm  amid  per- 
secution even  unto  death,  and  others  have  developed  Chris- 
tian character  worthy  of  the  apostolic  age. 

“When  China  is  converted,  one  half  of  the  heathen  world 
will  have  been  conquered  for  Christianity.” 


China  Literature 


At  the  Mercy  of  a Mob Free 

China;  Missionary  Surveys $ .01 

Golden  Hour  in  West  China.  The .03 

Guide  Book .25 

Learning  Chinese  in  Sixty  Days Free 

Missions  in  China.  An  historical  sketch .10 

Reconciliation  of  Ko,  The .01 

Winning  of  Vong  Met-chun,  The .01 


Catalog  giving  list  of  general  literature  on  China  free.  Annual  Report 
of  Society  free  on  receipt  of  10  cents  to  cover  postage. 


179-2M-6-18-1919 


